


Eddie Brock – a character study

by orphan_account



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Character Study, Other, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 07:17:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15791655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What happens to Eddie bears all signs of an invasion – mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, sexual. This isn't someone who is interested in his own evolution, this is a guy who wants to do his job. Will he embrace the Symbiote?





	Eddie Brock – a character study

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the trailers for Venom (2018). English is my second language.

“I'm Eddie Brock. I'm a reporter. Now I always seem to find myself questioning something the government may not be looking at. Well, I found something really bad. And I have been … taken.”

This introduction to Eddie's story scares the hell out of me. He sounds like a regular Joe who just happens to end up in the worst situations but doesn't really mind as long as he gets an exclusive. But then there is that one time when things get out of hand (that's an understatement if ever I heard one).

“What about the allegations that you recruit the most vulnerable for tests that end up killing people?”

Now we know what Mr. Drake is all about. He wants to become “a higher life-form” and the aliens are just a means to an end. I have a feeling not all of them are entirely happy about that. Perhaps the Symbiote who later forms the extraterrestrial half of Venom doesn't like being owned, or kept as a pet in a zoo of horrors, or offered inferior hosts only to be forced to abandon them upon their death as their weak bodies and minds fail to adapt.

Eddie appears to be made of sterner stuff than that. Remember, this isn't someone who is interested in his own evolution. This is a guy who just wants to do his job, even or especially if it means “following people that do not want to be followed.” His job is to find out what those in power are up to – to be suspicious of their motives – to expose their shameful secrets. He is “pretty good” at hiding in plain sight and he welcomes threats as a sign that he's on the right course. What does that tell us about Eddie?

He is used to working and living under pressure. He, perhaps, understands the two-sided nature of secrecy: in order to conceal or reveal a secret, you have to become invisible. He knows something about danger, and in violent encounters, is probably used to being on the receiving rather than the giving end. Is that what the Symbiote is looking for in a host?

There is one more thing about Eddie that strikes me as slightly incongruous. He thinks he knows “an evil person” when he sees one.  He tells his better half (pun intended), “If you're going to stay, you will only hurt bad people.” Really, Eddie? Do you think it's that simple? I smile at the notion that Eddie can tell good guys from the bad. I suppose to him the world has to seem somewhat black and white, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do his job. But it shows a kind of innocence in Eddie, a naiveté, a child-like side to this man who teams up with the most unlikely of allies.

The Symbiote, evidently, takes pleasure in hurting people, which means eating them. It reminds me of a kid in a candy store, or a hungry man at a buffet that offers his favorite dishes. The entire humanity may look to this alien as a small offering of compatible hosts and an endless abundance of choice snacks. This attitude doesn't seem to help one bit when it tries to bond successfully with Eddie.

Which brings me to my next question. Who chooses whom? Does the Symbiote choose Eddie or does Eddie choose the Symbiote? I suppose that if Eddie was to reject the Symbiote, the only other option for him was to die because the Symbiote may not leave him willingly or may even force Eddie to do its bidding – like a puppet. What a horrifying thought. Luckily for Eddie, things don't go this way. And yet he struggles with the process of bonding. Not expecting to have his mind and body invaded by an alien, he doesn't, at first, realize what is happening to him. He feels “really sick” and he's “hearing a voice.” He insists it's “not real”, that this voice, this entity that is speaking to him is “just in his head.” Until they – Eddie and his “parasite” - attack those men who come, and fail, to collect “Mr. Drake's property.” Even at that point, he doesn't fully understand what he's dealing with: it's all happening too fast for him to process the hows and whys of the violence he has inflicted.

At one point, he does realize he is no longer alone, no longer only and just himself. At first, he sees the Symbiote as a being separate from himself, asking, “What can you want from me?” The change is gradual. Steps – some small, some not so small – are taken that lead Eddie in the direction of finding one voice with the alien and declaring, “We … are Venom.”

It seems to be an uneasy alliance. Making deals with someone you can't get away from and who can kill you at will is especially tricky. That's why I think the Symbiote takes a liking to Eddie, so much so that it's prepared to bargain. On the outcome of this arrangement depend the lives of many – a fact that Eddie seems very much aware of: “We cannot just hurt people.” Even as he embraces the union with the Symbiote, he is trying to spare human lives. When under attack, the Symbiote will defend itself and its host, perhaps even saving both of them at a cost that goes against Eddie's wishes. Yet no one seems to listen to him when he warns, “You should be extremely afraid.”

Apart from the deal they must come up with if their cooperation is to be successful, the physical, mental and emotional sides of the ordeal take their toll on Eddie. Bonding with the Symbiote may or may not cause him unendurable pain – although I dare to say the Symbiote has all it takes to make itself agreeable to its host. The implications of that particular twist are endless. Human body functions in a certain way: it needs air, water, food, sleep, exercise and sex. So how about that? Somehow I don't really see Eddie going out with his girl and leaving the Symbiote at home. With its bizarre sense of humor, can you imagine the commentary it keeps up inside Eddie's head while he's trying to have sex? Trying being the operative word.

Poor Eddie. The bottom line is: when something happens to you of that magnitude, nothing is ever the same. Your habits, your routine, your job, your future, your relationships, your everything – it changes. I don't think Eddie is all that eager to become Venom. It separates him from much of what he knows and values – it sets him apart. Maintaining meaningful relationships or even keeping in touch with casual acquaintances while an alien lurks under your skin? Not the easiest thing in the world, I'll bet.

But the most significant is what Eddie seems reluctant to admit even to himself: “That power … It's not completely awful.” That line, alongside Tom Hardy's performance, establishes Eddie for me as a multidimensional character. He is ultimately empowered by what he himself describes as a “taking.” The obvious contradiction is a source of tension that can only be overcome if Eddie and the Symbiote become fully committed to each other, finding middle ground between wanton destruction and conscientious morality. While Eddie has been mistrustful of the people in charge lest they abuse their power, he now becomes a powerful force himself. Handling that much influence over people's lives may not be something he initially wanted, or welcomed when it was thrust upon him. Yet he takes up the responsibility of keeping the alien in check. But the bond goes both ways. Even as the Symbiote is put on a diet, as it were, Eddie, in a moment of honest reflection, hits upon the truth: power feels good. Power tastes of freedom. The power to do evil even more so.


End file.
